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4 January 2013

London 2012 was an extraordinary year! It was full of major events, a time when we welcomed the world to our parties and did ourselves proud.

We started the big stuff with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, full of street parties, the incredible river pageant of thousands of boats (in the pouring rain), the concert in front of Buckingham Palace and the pomp of the parades and traditional balcony scene of the royals at Buckingham Palace. London was full of Union Flags and we had a party.

Then London braced itself for the Olympics with some trepidation as the signs were not good. However the torch relay toured the country and did a tour of London cheered on by thousands and things were looking up. Then came the opening ceremony. We gathered in a local bar and held our breath, tho as one of the lucky few to see the technical rehearsal I was confident of success. It was brilliant and bonkers and the games were under way in a surge of patriotic pride. Medals flowed, tears flowed and we rushed to every event we could. The Olympic Park was huge and wonderful but all too soon the games were over and we asked ourselves if we were ready to go for it all again with the Paralympics.

The Paralympics lifted us all to great heights and the Olympic Park was full of Brits having an amazing day out. We were overawed by the skill of the athletes and new heroes were made and new sports grappled with. Another 2 weeks were spent glued to the TV to follow every moment of these incredible events.

The parade of all the Team GB athletes through London brought the crowds out in their thousands again as no one wanted to let go of the Olympic glow. We waved at our teams as they went past and they waved back and thanked us for our support, what an amazing feeling.

London has experienced a year like no other, and I hope many of you were there to feel the joy and the fun.

I'm sure 2013 will have its highs too and I am looking forward to it but still looking back with a sadness at the passing of 2012 and wonder if it will ever be as good again.... let's see.

I'm off to Tanzania for a while and there will be a break in blogs as I'll be away from the world of the internet. So I'd like to wish you all a wonderful 2013 and I'll be back soon.